Overnight Success, Part 3

Last time I compared success to a boulder that must be broken to pieces before ‘we’ve arrived.’ The steps taken to bring about success were likened to a small rock being tapped against it–the stress lines form and eventually the boulder crumbles, IE, overnight success (which took a relatively long time to build up to,) is suddenly apparent.

There are usually some problems that stand in the way. Suppose your smaller rock breaks before the boulder does. Fortunately, smaller rocks tend to fairly inexpensive and easy to replace. Sometimes a person has to go and do other things, since most of us have to earn a living or raise a family or help out friends… The important thing is to keep on coming back and tapping ‘the big one’ with the smaller one. If you can’t afford the type of advertising you’ve been doing, find something cheaper. There’s always something you can do, even if it’s merely talking to acquaintances over coffee. Once in a while, someone you know will turn out to know someone else who not only can make a huge difference, but actually wants to hear from you.

Once in a while, you’ll encounter partial success. Here’s an example from me, personally. My publisher takes a few months to compile sales data for my books–which is reasonable, since they’ve made my Martian Symbiont series available in so many different places, and in several different ways. Readers, book stores, schools and libraries can use Ingram, people can call 1-800-AUTHORS, and several Internet bookstores offer them internationally. My publisher has just relocated from one state to another, and I was wondering if that might be why my sales stats were almost nil. I queried them when the stats quit coming up altogether. The reply did mention they’d had some technical difficulties, and, bottom line, I’d sold some thirty-odd books during the time period in question. It’s a slow start, but it’s a start.

Overnight success often comes in this kind of smaller stages. People like success stories, and media is often willing to pass those stories along to their viewers and readers. If you’re not certain whether you have ‘news,’ they’ll probably tell you that you do not. Enthusiasm sells the same story that indifference can’t sell with bonuses and offers of free stuff.

Overnight success: Plan on it, work on it, and give it some time. If nothing is happening in three or four months, rework your plan and start again. There are smart people out there, with the answers you need, and the willingess to help you if you’re serious. Thanks for reading. 🙂

Oh, and that new perspective… Once your boulder begins to break up, you’ll realize it was there to become a path of stepping stones to your success.

About Scifialiens

Author of the Martian Symbiont series: three titles, so far; Been Blued, Martian Blues, Martian Divides.
Currently writing screenplays. 'Mating With Humans' can be found on her Stage32.com account.
Enjoyed writing from the start. Also a Star Trek and Doctor Who fan.
Canadian so far. Paternal grandparents were American. Feels more at home in the States.
Loves dogs and most other animals. Loves cats from afar--allergies.
Plays flute and saxophone; 'messes with' keyboard and electric guitar.
Single so far. Not really looking at the moment.
Age: irrelevant. Not to be confused with the fictional comic book character, Phyllis Twombly, who lived for 600 years in the American Midwest.